It is not ideal to use a circuit breaker for routine switching of a circuit due to power surges which may occur when switched back on. In particular, the intended use of a circuit breaker is to protect a circuit from undesirable current conditions such as overloads and short circuits. In some cases, arc and ground fault intervention protection is also provided. A control module allows for switching of power from a circuit breaker to a load when desired. Thus, the circuit breaker is primarily used for circuit protection and the control module is primarily used for controlled circuit switching.
Some designs of control modules use multiple panels where one panel includes the breakers and the other panel includes the control modules. Designs that integrate remote control routing into one panel offer substantial advantages over designs that use multiple panels. A one panel design reduces the number of wiring leads and connections. The total wall-space of an integrated panel is often less than the combined space occupied by two independent panels. An integrated panel design, also removes the “in-the-field” wiring process between the breaker panel and the control module panel.
Previous single panel designs integrate the remote switch operation of a control module with the interruption capability of the circuit breaker into a single package. This design causes one to purchase and replace all circuit breakers within a panel in order to add the remote operation functionality and thus tends to be high in cost, large in size, and has a large number of components. Also, if the circuit breaker becomes inoperative, the entire integrated circuit breaker must be replaced. Several of these designs also have a limited lifetime due to the large mechanical motion of heavy-duty contacts that are designed for short circuit and over-current interruption. Another design mounts a relay adjacent to a circuit breaker which takes up a circuit breaker slot in the panelboard, thereby reducing the number of available circuit breakers. With such design, additional wiring is needed, thereby adding costs to the system.
Thus, there is a need for a single panel design with separate control modules, which include contacts, that may be retrofitted to any existing circuit breaker. There is a further need for a control module that does not reduce the number of available circuit breakers. There is a further need for a control module that can be replaced without also replacing the circuit breaker to which it is attached.